Thermal container assembly

ABSTRACT

A hexagonal-shaped container having an upright wall formed with inside upright recesses for positioning a plurality of cans or bottles around a member for holding a solid or fluid, as water or heat sink material. A cover, located over the member, closes the top of the container.

United States Patent Mitchell 1 51 June 20, 1972 [54] THERMAL CONTAINERASSEMBLY [21] Appl.No.: 69,799

2,647,653 8/1953 Duese ..220/ 16 3,339,794 9/ 1967 Oberlander et al....220/15 2,724,494 1 H1955 Grafi ..206/4 3,115,281 12/1963 Somme.220/70 X 3 266,623 8/ 1966 Poferl ..206/4 3,24l,66l 3/1966 ZamZOW et a]..217/19 60,190 12/ 1 866 Holmes ..220/16 Primary Examiner-Raphael l-l.Schwartz Attomey-Burd, Braddock & Hart:

[ ABSTRACT 21 Claims, 5 Drawingflgures 52 us. (:1 ..220/20, 220/9 F,220/17 51 1111.0 365d 1/24 581 FieldofSearch ..220/9 F, 16,17, 20;206/4; 215/13; 43/56 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 991,7155/1911 Good ..220/16 2,961,124 11/1960 Hunteretal... ..220/16 3,104,7589/1963 Allen 6161 ..220/16X ll llllia PATENTEnJunzo 1972 3,670,918

INVEN KENNETH A. MIT ELL ATTORNEYS THERMAL CONTAINER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUNDOF INVENTION Containers, buckets, pails and like items are commonly usedto carry beverage cans, bottles and other objects. These containers areusually general utility items which have either circular or rectangularside walls. The side walls are not particularly designed foraccommodating additional structure for locating cans or bottles in thecontainer. While a plurality of cans or bottles can be carried in thesecontainers, there are no provisions for using a second container, pailor bucket for holding the cans or bottles in a position contiguous withheat sink material or fluid.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention is broadly related to a thermalcontainer for holding a plurality of objects, as beverage cans orbottles. The container has a body with circuitous upright side wallsintegrally joined with a bottom wall to form a chamber for accommodating both the objects and a heat sink retaining member. The sidewall has spaced upright recesses for accommodating portions of theobjects to position-the objects in the chamber. The top of the body isclosed with a cover. The cover is provided with a bottom recess toaccommodate the top portion of the member holding the heat sink materialor fluid.

In one form of the invention, the side wall has a generally hexagonalshape with six generally upright recesses located at the inside comersof the side wall. The outside comers of the side wall are generallyrounded and have arcuate configurations to provide the body with thegenerally hexagonal shape.

in another form of the invention, a plurality of cans can be locatedaround the central member. When the central member is removed, anadditional number of cans can be placed in the container.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the container assembly ofthe invention',

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the body of the container assembly with thecenter member removed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 4- 4 of FIG.1; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of a modified container assembly.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the containerassembly of the invention, indicated generally at 10, for carrying aplurality of objects 11, as beverage cans and bottles, in conjunctionwith a hollow member, indicated generally at 12, for holding fluid,solids or objects.

Container has a generally bucket or pail-shaped body 13 with an upwardlydirected circuitous side wall 14 and a bottom wall 16 providing achamber 17 for both the objects 11 and the fluid holding member 12. Asshown in FIG. 3, side wall 14 has an inside face 18 with six uprightrecesses or corners 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. The inside face 18extends upwardly and slightly outwardly from the bottom wall 16 wherebythe open top of the body 13 is slightly larger than the bottom of thebody. The side wall 14 has a generally hexagonal or six-sided shape withrounded or arcuate comers opposite the recesses 19 to 24.

The bottom wall 16 has a top surface 26 for supporting the objects andthe fluid holding member 12 in the chamber 17. The surface 26 has aplurality of circular cavities 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 in radialalignment with the recesses 19 to 24. Each cavity has a diameterslightly larger than the diameter of a beverage can or bottle so thatthey function to position the can or bottle in the body. As shown inFIG. 2, the bottom sur face 26 tapers upwardly and inwardly toward thecenter so that the cans 11, when positioned in the body, have a slightoutward angle. This locates the sides of the cans 11 in the recesses 19to 24 and close to the inside face l8.

The member 12 comprises a fluid holding pail or body 33 carrying aremovable cap 34. The body has a chamber 35 for carrying a liquid 36, aswater, gelatin or the like. The bottom wall 26 of the body 14 has acircular recess 37 for accommodating the bottom of the pail 33. Recess37 is open to recesses 27 to 32. The side walls of the pail 33 taperupwardly and outwardly so as to serve as a blocking or holding surfacefor retaining the cans in the recesses 19 to 24. The pail 33 can be usedto hold water for supporting minnows or other fish bait. Alternatively,the pail 33 can be emptied to accommodate other provisions or objects.Other liquids, semi-solids, ice or frozen material can be carried in thepail to serve as a heat sink to cool chamber 17.

The chamber 17 is closed with a cover 38 which rests on the top portionof the side wall 14. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, cover 38 is a circulardisc having a lower peripheral groove 39 which fits into the top of thebody 14. The portions of the body 14 between the recesses 19 to 24 havea step 41 for accommodating the cover 38. The relationship between thegroove 39 of the cover 38 and the step 41 of the body 14 is shown inFIG. 4. The central portion of the top of the cover 38 has a cavity 42bisected with a diametrical rib 43 which serves as a grip or handle toremove the cover from the body. Located on the inside of the cover 38 isan upwardly directed recess 44 providing space for the cap 34 of themember 12. The cover 38, when placed on the body 14, serves as a meansfor holding the cap 34 in assembled relation with the body 33. The upperportions of the side wall 14 are provided with holes 45 and 46 foraccommodating a carrying cord 47. Opposite ends of the cord 47 areprovided with knots to retain the cord in assembled relation with theside wall. Other types of handles or carrying structure can be used totransport the container.

The body 13 and the cover 38 are preferably made of ther mal insulativeplastic material, as expanded polystyrene. Other moldable, strong,lightweight plastic, cardboard, paper, wood, coated metal or similarheat insulative materials can be used to form both the body and thecover. The fluid holding member 12 can be metal or plastic.

The following description is an example of the size of the body 13 forholding 6 l2-ounce cans. The side wall 14 has an inside height of 5 andA inchesThe chamber 17 has a minor diameter of 8 inches and a majordiameter of 9 inches. The pail 12 has a diameter of 3 and iz inches anda height of5 and 54 inches. 7

Referring to FIG. 5, the side wall 49 has a generally upright insideface 52 having a plurality of comers or upright recesses 53 to 58. Thebody has a generally hexagonal shape and a chamber to accommodate twelveobjects, as beverage cans or bottles. Alternatively, the chamber canaccommodate six objects and a large fluid holding member or pail in amanner as shown in FIG. 2. The bottom wall 51 has a plurality of spacedrecesses 59 adjacent the recesses 53 to 58. Positioned inwardly from therecesses 59 are circular receses 61 for accommodating the bottoms of theinner tier of cans. The center portion of the bottom wall 51 has acentral reces 62 for an additional can, bottle or fluid holding member.The top of body 48 can be closed with a cover similar to the cover 38shown in FIG. 2.

In use, the container 10 can be used as a combination beverage holdingand bait retaining assembly. The beverage cans 11 can be located aroundthe fluid holding member 12. The bait, as minnows, can be placed in thefluid holding member 12. One or more of the cans 11 can contain frozengelatin or other refrigerant material which serves to keep both thebeverage cans and the bait holding member cool. The cover 38, closingthe top of the body, preserves the refrigerant character of the chamber17.

The fluid holding member 12 can contain the refrigerant, as ice orfrozen gelatin. The fluid holding member 12, being located in thecentral portion of the container, serves to equally cool the beveragecontainers located around the member.

Referring to FIG. 5, the use of a central refrigerant member serves tocool the twelve objects, as cans or bottles and containers placed aroundthe refrigerant member. One or more of the cans of frozen refrigerantmaterial can replace beverage cans. Also, a large pail can be located inthe center area of the body in lieu of the inner tier of cans. Thiscombination of the inner pail l2 and outer cans 1 l is shown in FIG. 2.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, other shapes, sizes and uses may be made without departingfrom the invention. For example, the inner face of the body may have agenerally rectangular shape with upright recesses at each corner andbetween the corners. The body may be a fiveor eight-sided object. Theinner pail 12 can have a six-sided body. Each size can have a concaveshape to accommodate the curvature of a can or bottle.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A container assembly for holding objects comprising: body meanshaving a circuitous upright side wall and bottom wall attached to thelower portion of the side wall, said side wall having a hexagonal shapeand an inside face surrounding a chamber, said face having six uprightrecesses located generally at the inside comers of the side wall foraccommodating portions of the objects to position the objects in thechamber, a generally cylindrical hollow member located inthe centerportion of the chamber, and a cover posin'onable on said side wall toclose said chamber, said cover having a bottom recess to accommodate thetop portion of the hollow member.

2. The container assembly claim 1 wherein: the bottom wall has a cavityto accommodate a bottom portion of the hollow member.

3. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said hollow member has achamber for holding heat sink means.

4. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said cover has a bottomportion extended into the top of said chamber, said bottom portionhaving an outer peripheral edge located adjacent an upper portion of theinside face of the side wall.

5. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said bottom wall has aplurality of upwardly open cavities to accommodate bottom portions ofthe objects.

6. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: the objects arecylindrical beverage containers, said recesses in the face havingarcuate configurations engageable with arcuate portions of thecontainers.

7. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: hollow member has agenerally upright side wall, said objects when positioned in thecontainer engageable with the side wall of the hollow member and theface of the side wall body.

8. The container assembly of claim 7 wherein: said bottom wall has acavity for the bottom portion of the hollow member.

9. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said chamber surrounded bythe side wall is of a size to accommodate at least 12 beveragecontainers.

10. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said bottom wall has aplurality of upwardly open cavities to accommodate bottom portions ofthe objects, each cavity being in general redial alignment with a recesin the inside face of the side wall.

11. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: the cover is a generallycircular disc having a groove around the lower outer peripheral portionthereof, said lower outer peripheral portion projected into the chamberwhen the cover closes said chamber and having an outer peripheral edgelocated adjacent an upper portion of the inside face of the side wall.

12. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: the cover has a circularportion around the lower outer peripheral section thereof; said sidewall having a circular recess in the upper portion thereof toaccommodate the circular portion of the cover.

13. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: the cover has a top, saidtop having a cavity bisected with a rib providing a hand grip.

14. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said hollow member has abody defining a chamber and a cap removably mounted on said body toclose the chamber.

15. A contamer assembly for holding ob ects comprising:

body means having a circuitous upright side wall and a bottom wallattached to the lower portion of the side wall, said side wall having aninside face surrounding a chamber, said face having corners and anupright recess in each comer for accommodating a portion of an object toposition the object in the chamber; an upright hollow member located inthe center poru'on of the chamber; and a cover positionable on said sidewall to close said chamber, said cover having a recess in the lower sidethereof to accommodate the top portion of the hollow member.

16. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: said cover has a bottomportion extended into the top of said chamber, said bottom portionhaving an outer peripheral edge located adjacent an upper portion of theinside face of the side wall.

17. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: said bottom wall has aplurality of upwardly open cavities to accommodate bottom portions ofthe objects.

18. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: said bottom wall has aplurality of upwardly open cavities to accommodate bottom portions ofthe objects, each cavity being in general radial alignment with a recessin the inside face of the side wall.

19. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: the cover is a generallycircular disc having a groove around the lower outer peripheral portionthereof, said lower outer peripheral portion projected into the chamberwhen the cover closes said chamber and having an outer peripheral edgelocated adjacent an upper portion of the inside face of the side wall.

20. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: said hollow member has abody defining a chamber and a cap removably mounted on said body toclose the chamber.

21. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: the cover has a circularportion around the lower outer peripheral section thereof, said sidewall having a circular recess in the upper portion thereof toaccommodate the circular portion of the cover.

1. A container assembly for holding objects comprising: body meanshaving a circuitous upright side wall and bottom wall attached to thelower portion of the side wall, said side wall having a hexagonal shapeand an inside face surrounding a chamber, said face having six uprightrecesses located generally at the inside corners of the side wall foraccommodating portions of the objects to position the objects in thechamber, a generally cylindrical hollow member located in the centerportion of the chamber, and a cover positionable on said side wall toclose said chamber, said cover having a bottom recess to accommodate thetop portion of the hollow member.
 2. The container assembly of claim 1wherein: the bottom wall has a cavity to accommodate a bottom portion ofthe hollow member.
 3. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: saidhollow member has a chamber for holding heat sink means.
 4. Thecontainer assembly of claim 1 wherein: said cover has a bottom portionextended into the top of said chamber, said bottom portion having anouter peripheral edge located adjacent an upper portion of the insideface of the side wall.
 5. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein:said bottom wall has a plurality of upwardly open cavities toaccommodate bottom portions of the objects.
 6. The container assembly ofclaim 1 wherein: the objects are cylindrical beverage containers, saidrecesses in the face having arcuate configurations engageable witharcuate portions of the containers.
 7. The container assembly of claim 1wherein: the hollow member has a generally upright side wall, saidobjects when positioned in the container engageable with the side wallof the hollow member and the face of the side wall body.
 8. Thecontainer assembly of claim 7 wherein: said bottom wall has a cavity forthe bottom portion of the hollow member.
 9. The container assembly ofclaim 1 wherein: said chamber surrounded by the side wall is of a sizeto accommOdate at least 12 beverage containers.
 10. The containerassembly of claim 1 wherein: said bottom wall has a plurality ofupwardly open cavities to accommodate bottom portions of the objects,each cavity being in general redial alignment with a recess in theinside face of the side wall.
 11. The container assembly of claim 1wherein: the cover is a generally circular disc having a groove aroundthe lower outer peripheral portion thereof, said lower outer peripheralportion projected into the chamber when the cover closes said chamberand having an outer peripheral edge located adjacent an upper portion ofthe inside face of the side wall.
 12. The container assembly of claim 1wherein: the cover has a circular portion around the lower outerperipheral section thereof; said side wall having a circular recess inthe upper portion thereof to accommodate the circular portion of thecover.
 13. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: the cover has atop, said top having a cavity bisected with a rib providing a hand grip.14. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein: said hollow member has abody defining a chamber and a cap removably mounted on said body toclose the chamber.
 15. A container assembly for holding objectscomprising: body means having a circuitous upright side wall and abottom wall attached to the lower portion of the side wall, said sidewall having an inside face surrounding a chamber, said face havingcorners and an upright recess in each corner for accommodating a portionof an object to position the object in the chamber; an upright hollowmember located in the center portion of the chamber; and a coverpositionable on said side wall to close said chamber, said cover havinga recess in the lower side thereof to accommodate the top portion of thehollow member.
 16. The container assembly of claim 15 wherein: saidcover has a bottom portion extended into the top of said chamber, saidbottom portion having an outer peripheral edge located adjacent an upperportion of the inside face of the side wall.
 17. The container assemblyof claim 15 wherein: said bottom wall has a plurality of upwardly opencavities to accommodate bottom portions of the objects.
 18. Thecontainer assembly of claim 15 wherein: said bottom wall has a pluralityof upwardly open cavities to accommodate bottom portions of the objects,each cavity being in general radial alignment with a recess in theinside face of the side wall.
 19. The container assembly of claim 15wherein: the cover is a generally circular disc having a groove aroundthe lower outer peripheral portion thereof, said lower outer peripheralportion projected into the chamber when the cover closes said chamberand having an outer peripheral edge located adjacent an upper portion ofthe inside face of the side wall.
 20. The container assembly of claim 15wherein: said hollow member has a body defining a chamber and a capremovably mounted on said body to close the chamber.
 21. The containerassembly of claim 15 wherein: the cover has a circular portion aroundthe lower outer peripheral section thereof, said side wall having acircular recess in the upper portion thereof to accommodate the circularportion of the cover.